Introduction

I ntroduction Volker Menze Barsauma destroyed all Syria. He incited thousands of monks against us. Drive out the murderer Barsauma. The murderer to the stadium! Anathema to Barsauma! Barsauma into exile!1 The basis for these accusations brought forth by the bishops assembled at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 remains dubious, but they were nevertheless serious and far-reaching: the archimandrite Barsauma (Barsaumas/Barsumas/Barsawmo, etc.)2 was believed to have led riotous monks against their bishops as well as hav- ing been involved in the assassination of Bishop Flavian of Constantinople (446– 449). Flavian had been deposed two years earlier at the Second Council of Ephesus and died shortly afterward under unclear circumstances.3 I ndependent of the question of whether these accusations bear any truth, this very unflattering description of Barsauma in the Acts of the council has at least partially shaped the negative image of Barsauma in Western church history. How- ever, for a little more than 100 years now Barsauma has also been known from another text: just before the First World War François Nau edited and translated some Syriac fragments of Barsauma’s Life, which show the wandering saint as a violent ascetic and anti-Jewish zealot.4 Since their publication, these fragments of Barsauma’s hagiography have been used widely in scholarship, although they present less than a third of the full Life. The full Life of Barsauma offers one of the longest and most extensive hagiographies from antiquity—longer than, for example, the three surviving lives of Simeon Stylites altogether! 1. ACO II.1.2, 116 (tr. Price and Gaddis, 2:156, modified). 2. Various transliterations of the name (from the Greek and Syriac texts) have been used; we de- cided to use the commonly known Barsauma. 3. Henry Chadwick, “TheE xile and Death of Flavian of Constantinople: A Prologue to the Council of Chalcedon,” Journal of Theological Studies 6 (1955): 17–34. 4. See below in the section “Scholarship on Barsauma.” 1 Hahn-Wandering Holy Man.indd 1 03/04/20 5:14 PM 2 Introduction A s the present volume offers the first full translation of the Life in any modern language, the introduction intends to familiarize the reader with the Life, provide an overview of its recurring themes, and contextualize it within late antique Syriac hagiography. Furthermore, considering Barsauma’s extremely controversial after- life as a heretic and murderer in the Chalcedonian tradition, and as a saint in the non-Chalcedonian tradition, it seems crucial to attempt to reconstruct the historical Barsauma as much as this is possible from the extremely biased accounts. Finally, as the volume is also intended as a (first) companion to Barsauma, the introduction offers a short history of modern scholarship on the subject. TE H LIFE OF BARSAUMA: OVERVIEW AND STRUCTURE The Life of Barsauma is extraordinary not only because of its length but also because of its unusual structure. The Life is built around ninety-nine “signs” performed by Barsauma and his disciples, including (healing) miracles, exorcisms, and curses.5 This configuration is notable as it stands in contrast to the structure of sixth-century non-Chalcedonian saints’ Lives, which celebrate those who opposed the Council of Chalcedon, but do not contain any miracle stories. The focus of these Lives is not on the supernatural power of the saints but on their doctrinal positions.6 Barsauma’s battle against the Council of Chalcedon and the “heretics” ruling the Roman Empire, by contrast, is confined to the last third of the Life. Sixty percent of the Life presents an itinerant ascetic whose blessings and curses made as much of an impact on the poor as on the Roman elite, and who directed his violent zealotry against Jews, pagans, and Samaritans. Before analyzing some of the recurring motifs, a short overview of the structure of the Life is necessary. In §§ 1–31 the author introduces the saint. The first five paragraphs cover his childhood, his first vision, a prophecy by others concerning his future, his first discipleship, and—indeed—his first pilgrimage (out of a supposed total of four) to Jerusalem.7 The next twenty paragraphs (§§ 5–25) detail Barsauma’s asceticism and hardships (for example, his diet in § 19), and how his growing fame attracted disciples and compelled him to found a cave monastery.8 The author then presents Barsauma’s first exorcisms and miracles (§§ 26–31), even claiming that Barsauma 5. Note that in the following the Life is quoted according to Palmer’s 166 paragraphs, not according to the “signs.” 6. For the historical Barsauma and the Christological debate, see below. Elijah’s Life of John of Tella, for example, contains no miracle; in Brooks, Vitae virorum apud monophysitas celeberrimorum, 31–95 (23–60). 7. §§ 1–4, as there are §§ 3A and 3B. 8. The author seems to have no concrete details of the foundation of the monastery, which is believed—according to later tradition—to be southeast of Melitene. Hahn-Wandering Holy Man.indd 2 03/04/20 5:14 PM Introduction 3 was able to stop the course of the sun (§ 29). These miracles, as well as Barsauma’s often fatal curses, become a defining feature of the entire Life. After this “introduction,” which establishes Barsauma as a local protagonist for whom others predicted an important future, the saint, accompanied by some of his disciples, starts his travels, though always returning to his home monastery. Barsauma’s first extensive journey to Mount Sinai, including another pilgrimage to Jerusalem, was framed by the famous Simeon Stylites: when Barsauma started his journey, Simeon declared him the most righteous man of his generation (§§ 32/33), and on his return north, Barsauma visited Simeon (§§ 46/47).9 The next section of the Life sees Barsauma at home in his monastery, offering exorcisms as well as miracles and curses (§§ 48–59: miracles concerning snakes, diseases, infertile land, etc.). Barsauma then travels again to different regions, performing exorcisms, fertil- ity miracles, miracles against pestilence, curses, and so on (§§ 60–73). After a short stay at home (§§ 74/75, which is short relative to the entire narrative of the Life; we are unable, however, to establish a chronology from the Life), he embarked on another pilgrimage to Jerusalem (§§ 76–83). This time he met Empress Eudocia (who had come to Jerusalem in 438/9 and had permanently lived there since 441/2) and instructed her on almsgiving (§ 83). His return home (§§ 84–86) was paved with miracles, but his stay at home lasted for only a few miracles (§§ 87/88) before he made the (in)famous journey to Jerusalem (§§ 89/90) that has caught the atten- tion of scholars since Nau.10 A ccording to the hagiographer, 103,000 Jews who had been allowed by the empress Eudocia to convene in the city for the Feast of Tabernacles attempted to take over Jerusalem assisted by imperial officials, clergy, and even the empress. Only Barsauma and his disciples resisted, and with the help of God—who killed many of the Jews—they ensured that Jerusalem would remain a Christian city (§§ 91–96).11 This is not only the longest story, covering almost one-tenth of the Life, but also the most dramatic episode in the entire Life of Barsauma. The rest of the Life is overshadowed by the doctrinal controversy (§§ 98–166). Barsauma returned home (§ 97) from Jerusalem and performed signs and miracles (§§ 99–102). Heretics and apostates are mentioned for the first time in § 99, and Barsauma’s involvement in ecclesiastical politics begins after § 103, when his 9. Simeon was a “rock star” among late antique saints whose fame probably grew even after his death, and his church, Qal’at Sim’an, became one of the most famous and most visited pilgrimage sites in the eastern Mediterranean. Simeon has another vision of Barsauma and meets with him (§§ 46–47). Another saint included in the Life—although less clearly identifiable—is James of Cyrrhestica (§ 90). 10. On the way he may have met with James of Cyrrhestica (§ 90), as noted above. 11. Volker Menze, “The Dark Side of Holiness: Barsauma the ‘Roasted’ and the Invention of a Jew- ish Jerusalem,” in Motions of Late Antiquity. Essays on Religion, Politics, and Society in Honour of Peter Brown, ed. Jamie Kreiner and Helmut Reimitz (Turnhout: Brepols, 2016,) 231–48; see also below. Hahn-Wandering Holy Man.indd 3 03/04/20 5:14 PM 4 Introduction former fellow student and now bishop of Samosata, Zachariah, was killed by ecclesiastical opponents. Barsauma traveled to Constantinople (§ 103.3) to visit Emperor Theodosius II (408–450), who wanted to make him patriarch of Antioch (§ 105). Barsauma declined, but Theodosius nevertheless requested that he manage the affairs of the church as well as the poor. As will be discussed below in “The His- torical Barsauma,” Barsauma was then charged with presiding over the Second Council of Ephesus in 449 (§ 106). After these events, Barsauma traveled to the East and was supposed to convene another council in Antioch (§ 108). The historical Barsauma reached the peak of his influence in 449 only to be regarded as a heretic two years later, and the hagiographer translates this turn of events as the result of Satan being jealous of Barsauma’s victories and conspiring against him through clerics and other influential men of the empire (starting in § 109). Theodosius’s death is recorded (§ 113), as is the initiative of the emperor’s successor, Marcian, to convene the Council of Chalcedon (§ 116) that considered Barsauma to be a heretic, and Marcian’s oppression of resistance against the council (§ 119).

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